SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA

Update: April 28, 2020

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA Public Information Office mediainfo@contracosta.courts.ca.gov 925-608-2607 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Matt J. Malone, Public Information Officer April 28, 2020 URGENT RELEASE: COURT CLOSURE THIS NOTICE SUPERSEDES ALL OTHERS PREVIOUSLY ISSUED PLEASE REVIEW COMPLETELY THE COURT IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH AT LEAST MAY 27, 2020 Emergency Local Rules. The Court has issued Emergency Local Rules governing practice in the Criminal, Juvenile, Civil, Probate, and Family departments: http://www.cc-courts.org/local-rules/local-rules.aspx Please review these rules for practices and procedures in each case type during the closure.

Jury Service.

Jurors summoned for service during the closure period will have their service postponed. Notice of the rescheduled date will be mailed to you.

Hearings. o Generally, the Court will not schedule hearings during the closure period or reset hearings that were scheduled during the closure period until the Court reopens. Exceptions exist. Urgent matters described below and those set forth in Emergency Local Rules will be heard. Please review the Emergency Local Rules for your case type. In some cases the Court may contact the parties to reschedule hearings in specific cases. (Do not call the Court asking to be scheduled.) o In certain Civil and Probate cases, notice of continued hearings will only be provided online via the Court’s Open Access system. You may be required to review the website and provide notice to other parties of the new hearing dates. Please review the Probate and Civil rules carefully.Drop Box Filings.

Filings permitted by the Emergency Local Rules for each case type will be accepted at drop boxes at the following locations: o Civil: Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez. (Note: Unlawful detainer matters that do not involve violence, threats of violence, or health and safety issues may not be filed; please see “Unlawful Detainer Matters,” below.) o Criminal: Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez. o Family: Main entrance of Family Law building in Martinez. o Juvenile: Main entrance of the Walnut Creek Courthouse. o Probate: Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez. o Pittsburg and Richmond courthouses: Drop boxes are available only for filings in case types heard at those locations. Drop boxes will be available from 9 A.M. – 3 P.M. Any filing deposited in a drop box that does not meet the requirements of the Emergency Local Rules for the respective case type will not be filed.

Filing by Mail/Delivery. The Court will accept approved filings, as provided by the Emergency Local Rules for each case type, by mail or other delivery such as FedEx. Couriers will not have access to Court facilities, only to the drop boxes.

Specific Matters o Restraining Orders. The Court continues to accept applications for domestic violence, civil harassment, and gun violence restraining orders. For civil restraining orders, please review the Civil Emergency Local Rules. For domestic violence restraining orders and emergency protective orders, please review the Family Emergency Local Rules. o Traffic. The Court will begin to address traffic matters that do not require a court appearance. You will be contacted by the Court as to those matters. All other matters will be handled when the Court reopens. Please do not contact the Court about your traffic matter until after reopening. No Court penalties or fines will accrue during the closure. o Unlawful Detainer. The Judicial Council’s Emergency Rules of Court prohibit the Court from issuing a summons on any new unlawful detainer complaints, with limited exceptions for urgent public health and safety matters. For matters involving violence, threats of violence, and/or health and safety issues, parties should provide documents with the filing, such as a declaration under oath, relating facts supporting the urgency on those grounds. Public Access o Records. All records offices remain closed. But the Court will accept records requests and requests for background checks by mail, subject to all legal confidentiality exceptions. Request forms may be downloaded from the appropriate Court Records webpage: For Criminal matters and background checks: http://www.cc-courts.org/criminal/records.aspx For any other matters: http://www.cc-courts.org/civil/records.aspx o Hearings. The Court is in the process of making those hearings that would be open to the public under normal operations available either by conference call or Zoom link. Please review the Court website – www.cc-courts.org – for further details as this access becomes available. #####

Restraining Orders. The Court will accept applications for domestic violence, civil harassment, and gun violence restraining orders beginning April 6, 2020. The process will be set forth in Emergency Local Rules.

Jury Service. Jurors who were participating in an active matter that the time of the Court’s initial closure on March 16, 2020, will be contacted by the department. All others who have jury duty during this period will have service postponed. Notice of the rescheduled date will be mailed to you.

Hearings. The Court will not schedule hearings or reset hearings that were scheduled during the closure period until the Court reopens, with the exception of urgent matters described below and those to be set forth in Emergency Local Rules. The Court will inform you of the rescheduled hearing date. Please do not call the Court asking for a date.

Traffic matters. Traffic matters will not be heard at this time. No Court penalties or fines will accrue during the closure. Please contact the Court upon reopening.

Unlawful Detainer matters. No new unlawful detainer filings will be accepted. For those unlawful detainer matters involving violence, threats of violence, and/or health and safety issues, parties should seek a restraining order first, and then seek permission from the hearing judge to file an unlawful detainer action. Ex Parte Applications. Ex parte applications will only be accepted in urgent matters described below, or in accordance with specific Emergency Local Rules.

During the closure, the Court will accept certain urgent filings as follows:

Emergency Criminal and Juvenile Matters. As of March 30, 2020, the Court is accepting filings for emergency criminal and juvenile matters only.

Criminal filings will be accepted via a drop box placed at the Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.

Juvenile filings will be accepted via a drop box at the Walnut Creek Courthouse.

“Emergency matters” are specifically defined in the Emergency Local Rules – Criminal and Juvenile available on the Court’s website.

All other matters. The Court will begin accepting certain filings for these matters on April 6, 2020 which will be subject to Emergency Local Rules described below.

Civil and Probate filings will be accepted at a drop box placed at the Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez. Unlawful detainer matters that do not involve violence, threats of violence, or health and safety issues may not be filed.

Family filings only will be accepted via a drop box at the front of the Family Law building in Martinez.

Additional drop boxes available at branch courts. Beginning April 6, 2020, drop boxes will also be made available at both the Pittsburg and Richmond branch courts only for filings in case types heard at those locations.

Acceptance of filings by mail/delivery. The Court will accept approved filings, as defined by the case-type Emergency Local Rules, by mail or other delivery such as FedEx. Couriers will not have access to Court facilities, only to the drop boxes. Rejection of Filings. Any filing deposited in a drop box that does not meet the requirements above will not be filed.

Finally, the Court will adopt Emergency Local Rules which will govern filings and hearings of specific matters. The Court website and the online version of this press release will be updated with active links to all rules as soon as they are available.

The Court has requested authorization from the Chief Justice to continue its closure through April 30, 2020, and will issue a further release with details as to what Court operations will resume during any extended closure period.

Emergency Criminal and Juvenile Matters. The Court will accept filings for emergency criminal and juvenile matters only beginning March 30, 2020.

Criminal filings will be accepted via a drop box placed at the Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.

Juvenile filings will be accepted via a drop box at the Walnut Creek Courthouse.

“Emergency matters” will be specifically-defined in Emergency Local Rules which will be posted on the Court’s website as soon as possible.

All other matters EXCEPT Traffic and Unlawful Detainer matters. The Court will begin accepting certain filings for these matters on April 6, 2020. Emergency Local Rules governing these filings will be posted to the Court’s website by April 1, 2020. Civil and Family filings will be accepted at a drop box placed at the Main Street entrance of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse in Martinez.

Family filings only will also be accepted via a drop box at the front of the Family Law building in Martinez.

Unlawful Detainer matters may not be filed at this time.

Traffic matters will not be handled at this time. If you seek to pay or challenge a traffic ticket, the Court remains closed. Please contact the Court upon reopening. No Court penalties or fines accrue during the closure.

Additional drop boxes available at branch courts. Beginning April 6, drop boxes will also be made available at both the Pittsburg and Richmond branch courts only for filings in case types heard at those locations.

Acceptance of filings by mail/delivery. The Court will accept approved filings, as defined by the case-type Emergency Local Rules, by mail or other delivery such as FedEx. Couriers will not have access to Court facilities, only to the drop boxes.

The Court will not schedule hearings or reset hearings that were scheduled during the closure period until the Court reopens, with the exception of urgent matters described above and those to be set forth in Emergency Local Rules. The Court will inform you of the rescheduled hearing date. Please do not call the Court asking for a date.

The Court will be closed completely on March 31, 2020, in observance of the Cesar Chavez holiday.

As with its initial closure, the Court’s request for a continued emergency order and limited closure is not in response to a specific notice of exposure at any Court facility or to any Court staff.